WHY BOULDERS SOMETIMES TAKE A JUMP
Boulders sometimes jump up, all of a sudden, as if they had sat on a pin. They do this when an earthquake wave passes straight through the globe; from Ecuador, say, to Borneo. Such waves, called "waves of transmission," travel "incog" as it were, not causing any disturbance until they reach the surface again. Then if there happens to be a big rock on the spot, up it jumps—the funniest thing you ever saw!
Harry Furniss, the famous English cartoonist, made this picture just for a joke.
On [page 157] you will find two pictures of stones by two famous landscape artists, Claude and Turner. Of the stones in one picture Mr. Ruskin says, "they are massy and ponderous as stones should be"; while the stones in the other picture are "wholly without weight."
In which of the pictures would you say the stones are "massy and ponderous," and in which are they "wholly without weight?"
Now look at the "Hide and Seek" notes below and see if you and Mr. Ruskin think alike.
HIDE AND SEEK IN THE LIBRARY
A boy scout, as you know, is expected, among other things, to be an Indian (a good Indian, of course); to keep his eyes wide open as he goes about in the woods and fields. In that way he is always coming across things to wonder over, such as the big stone the Indians found.
It's just such boys that great men are made of. All the great scientists began in that way.